I was sad and depressed. She was such a sweet girl.  I had one other picture of Liana.  She was wearing a red dress; her hair was piled atop of her head. She had gained a few pounds in the picture, but her beauty was so radiant it was breathtaking.

Red came in the room, looked at me and said bluntly, “I’m taking our sons to the store for ice cream.  Want anything?”

She was a darling.  “I’m ok; I need to throw
half this shit away.”

“Ok, we’ll be back.”

I stood up and gave her a firm hug.  Gripping a hand full of my ass, she gave me some tongue.  We always kissed like it was the very first time.  “I wanna do something for our sons…put like a little family tree thing together.”

Red said, “Baby, that’s hot to death.”

“Ok, I need your Mama’s name, and your son’s father’s name and all that good shit.”

“Ok, when I get back I’ll get you everything you need.”

“Ok, damn we’re damn sure saying ‘ok’ an awful lot.”

Red looked deep into my eyes. “I love you.”

“And I love you.”

Red got serious on me.  “I will never hurt you, never lie to you, baby.  I will die for you.”

I felt appreciated.  I truly missed my son’s father, and he was the first and only man I ever wanted. I loved him, when we were together everyday was a holiday.

I remembered rumors circulated around our high school, Miami Central Senior High, that he slept with Lianna.  I didn’t believe it of course.  
He was too busy selling dope and talking to me on the phone.  I knew that couldn’t be true.  Then I got pregnant.

I kept my son, and Mama tried to make me abort him. I told her to fuck off.  My life was on the upswing…that was until my baby Daddy, Dunn McKinney, was murdered.

I never thought I’d love again. So I turned to women again and the rest was history.

“Ah,” I said, hugging her tighter. We held each other.  “For some strange reason I believe you.”  And we kissed.

I was nearly done throwing shit away.  Took me twenty minutes and they still weren’t back.  I didn’t worry; she did call me and said that she was stuck in traffic.  Go figure.

I opened Red’s closet and put my photo albums on the top shelf.  One fell down.

“Shit!”

I suspected it was hers.  Breathing through my nose, I picked it up and decided not to be nosey. I was gonna put it back.

When I reached up to slide it on the top shelf, some photos fell out. I squatted on my knees and took them up but the instant I looked at them the breath caught in my throat.

I held my neck and sat down, staring at the photos in disbelief.  I opened the book and right before my eyes I found out all I needed to know.
Lolita Harvey wasn’t Lolita Harvey.

And I didn’t need to ask her who her baby Daddy was. Lolita Harvey’s real name was Lianna Gregory.

My long lost friend, the woman I was secretly
in love with from high school. And her son’s father was the same man who fathered my son.

Dunn McKinney.

The high school rumor was true!

Oh, God!

Renaldo and Jameson were brothers!